Rack and the like



July 21, 1942. E. c. GODFREY 2,290,468

BACK AND THE LIKE Filed July 10, 1939 if E- INVENTOR ZZZ yard 6.60/791934 Patented July 21, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT ics BACK AND THELIKE Edward C. Godfrey, Detroit, Mich.

Application July 10, 1939, Serial No. 283,584

6 Claims. (Cl. 211-123) This invention relates to racks and inparticular to racks for holding towels and the like.

The primary object of the invention is to provide a rack for supportingtowels, wash cloths, dish cloths, dust cloths and other objects which,without the use. of mechanical fastening means, will prevent the saidtowels or the like from sliding down therefrom if hung thereon in anunbalanced manner and which will permit the said towels or the like tobe placed thereon and removed therefrom with extreme ease and. facility.

Another object of the invention is to provide a towel rack which isinexpensive to manufacture, easly to erect and which occupies a minimumof space.

Other objects of the invention will become apparent by reference to thefollowing detailed description taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawing, in which:

. Fig. 1 is a plan view of a double open end towel rack embodying theinvention secured by vacuum-cup means to a tile wall or the like.

Fig. 2 is a plan view similar to Fig. 1 in which a single open end towelrack embodying the invention is disclosed secured to a tile wall or thelike.

Fig. 3 is a view in perspective showing a single open end towel rackembodying the invention secured to a wood rail having a towel or thelike positioned thereover.

Fig. 4 is a front elevational view of the towel.

rack disclosed in Fig. 3 with the towel removed.

Fig. 5 is a plan view of a double closed end towel rack embodying theinvention secured to a wood rail or the like.

' Fig. 6 is a plan view of a single closed end towel rack embodying theinvention secured to a wood rail or the like.

Fig. '7 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line l| of Fig, 1showing the preferred cross sectional shape of bar employed.

Fig. 8 is a view part in section and part in elevation showing how thetowel racks are secured to vacuum cups when vacuum cup supporting meansare employed.

Referring now to the drawing wherein like numerals refer to like andcorresponding parts throughout the several views, the double open endtowel rack disclosed in Fig. 1 comprises a pair of towel bars Ill and IIsecured to a tile wall l2 by means of vacuum cups l3, the said towelbars 10 and H being secured together and to the said vacuum cups [3 bymeans of a threaded insert l4 moulded in the vacuum cup l3 and extendingtherefrom. In the embodiment of the invention disclosed in Fig. 1, it ispreferred that only the outer towel bar H be threaded to accommodate thethreaded insert [4 of the vacuum cups I3.

Each of the towelbars IE! and H is provided with a base portion I00 andi II] respectively disposed parallel to the object to which the towelrack is secured. Each towel bar It! and II is formed into a curved towelsupporting arm l5 extending laterally and forwardly outward from thebase portion I08 and I 40 thereof terminating with a suitably hooked orotherwise rounded laterally and outwardly spaced end It as best shown inFig. 1. Such construction provides ample space at X to slide towels ontoand off from the towel bars 10 and II.

The towel bars H] and l I are preferably formed substantially half roundas indicated in Fig. 7, except, however, the base I00 of the towel barID is preferably flattened as indicated in Fig. 4. The aperturestoaccommodate securing means located in the base of the towel bar H] arepreferably not threaded, however, the aperturesin the base llllof thetowel bar H are threaded to accommodate the threaded insert 14 of thevacuum cups l3. Nevertheless, either or both of the bases of the towelbars may be apertured, threaded, slotted, or otherwise formed to adaptthe said towel bars to any of numerous available and known means forsecuring the said towel bars in pairs or singly to any desired surfaceor structure.

The dot and dash lines in Fig. 1 indicate the position taken'by towelsor the like I! when hung on'the towel bars IE] and l l, the said towelsor the like I! being placed over the said towel bars l0 and H by firstfolding them into an inverted U-shape and then sliding them on the towelbars 10 and H through the space X. However, one of the depending ends ofthe towels or the like 11 may beinserted vertically through the space Ybetween the towel bars l0 and II and the support l2 if preferred ornecessary. When the towels or the like I l are placed on the towel barsl0 and II, it will be noted that the inner portion I!!! thereof becomescrimped or crowded together which materially lessens the tendency tosliding of the said towels or the like I! down from the towel bars [0and II. Therefore, even though the towels or the like I! are unevenlyhung on the towelbars I ii and H they will not easily slide downtherefrom due to the crimping of the rear portion of the said towels orthe like I1. This is particularly advantageous when racks embodying theinvention are used for smaller items such as guest towels, finger-tiptowels, wash cloths and the like, and when longer towels or the like areplaced over the rack in unsymmetrical inverted U-shaped position Inother words, it has been found that to use a horizontally disposedcurved bar in towel racks provides a more positive and firm holding of atowel or the like thereon with little or no possibility of the articlebeing unintentionally knocked or blown off therefrom.

The invention is subject to many applications. For example, the towelbar I I may be used alone with two vacuum cups l3 attached to a tilewall 12 or the like as shown in Fig. 2, in which event, the threadedinsert M in each of the said vacuum cups I3 is made slightly shorterthan in Fig. 1. Also, the towel bar ID may be used alone and secured bywood screws 118 to a wood rail or the like I9 as disclosed in Fig. 3. Atowel or the like I1 is shown folded in an inverted U- shape and drapedover the towel bar It] in Fig. 3. A front elevation of the towel bar 10used in Fig. 3 is shown in Fig. 4 without a towel or the like positionedthereover.

Fig. 5 discloses a second embodiment of the invention wherein a towelbar 20 is formed into a plurality of outwardly disposed laterally spacedcurved towel supporting elements 2| which function precisely the same asthe towel bars l and H disclosed in Figs. 1 to 4 inclusive. Supportingbases 200 are formed at the ends of the said towel bar 20 and woodscrews I8 are employed to secure the same to a wood rail 19 or'the like.Obviously, bases 20!] of the towel bar 20 may be secured to any type ofa wall in any conventional manner and the towel bar 20 may be providedwith any reasonable number of curved towel supporting elements 2|.

The embodiment of the invention disclosed in Fig. 6 is composed of atowel bar 22 formed into a single outwardly disposed curved towelsupporting element 23 which functions the same as the towel racksdisclosed in Figs. 1 to inclusive. Supporting bases 220 are formed atthe ends of the said towel bar 22 and wood screws I8 are employed tosecure the same to a wood rail l9 or the like. Likewise, the bases 220of the towel bar 22 may be secured to any type of a wall in anyconventional manner. The curvature of the towel supporting element 23was not formed to such a severe radius as in the case of the towel racksdisclosed in Figs. 1 to 5 inclusive because the towel supporting element23 of the towel rack disclosed in Fig. 6 is intended for use with largetowels which require less crimping along the inside of the elementsupporting them to prevent them from sliding 01f therefrom.

In each of the embodiments of the invention disclosed, the towel placedover the towel bar becomes crimped on the rearward side thereof at thetowel bar after being draped thereover in an inverted U-shaped mannerwhich reduces to a minimum any possibility of a towel or the like placedthereover falling therefrom because of being accidentally placed on thetowel rack in an unsymmetrical inverted U-shaped manner or because ofbeing accidentally brushed against in passing. Also, towels or the likeon any of the racks disclosed herein are not as easily blown off thesame by wind entering a kitchen or bathroom through open doors andwindows.

In addition to the fact that the curved towel racks disclosed willretain towels or the like placed thereon more surely than in the case ofthe old straight towel bars, the curved towel racks have a greater towelcapacity per lineal inch of wall space occupied than straight racks.

Although but three embodiments of the invention and several modifiedapplications thereof have been shown and described in detail, it isobvious that the invention may be practiced in many forms and that manychanges may be made in the size, shape, arrangement and detail of thevarious parts thereof without departing from the spirit of the inventionas defined by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A rack for towels and articles of similar nature which consists oftwo members of which each includes a rigid article holding arm whichextends generally horizontally and is essentially curved horizontally sothat when the article is draped over it a portion of the article will becrowded into folds and the article thus restrained from slipping fromthe arm and an appendage on one end of the arm which extends generallyin the direction of the length of the arm and through which the membermay be mounted on a wall, the angle between the appendage and the armbeing such that when the member is mounted on the wall the end of thearm distant from the appendage will be spaced laterally from the wallthemembers being so arranged that the appendage of one overlies theappendage of the other and the article holding arms extend in oppositedirections.

2. A rack for towels and articles of similar nature including a rigidarticle holding arm which extends horizontally and means through whichthe rack may be attached to a support, said arm being essentiallysharply curved horizontally so that when the article is draped thereovera portion of the article will be crowded into folds and pressed againstthe inner curved side of the arm while free from the support and thearticle will thus be restrained from slipping down from the arm.

3. A rack for towels and articles of similar nature including a rigidarticle holding arm which extends horizontally and an appendage at oneend thereof which extends generally in the direction of the length ofthe arm and through which the rack may be mounted on a wall, the anglebetween the appendage and the arm being such that when the rack ismounted on the wall the end of the arm remote from the appendage will bespaced from the wall, said arm being essentially sharply curvedhorizontally so that when the article is draped thereover a portion ofthe article will be crowded into folds and pressed against the innercurved side of the arm while free from the wall and the article willthus be restrained from slipping down from the arm.

4. A rack for towels and articles of similar nature including a rigidarticle holding member which extends generally horizontally and anappendage at each end thereof for attaching the rack to a support, saidmember comprising two arms, each of which is essentially sharply curvedhorizontally so that when the article is draped thereover a portion ofthe article will be crowded into folds and pressed against the innerside of the arm over which it is draped while free from the support andthe article will thus be restrained from slipping down from said arm,one end of one arm being joined to one appendage and one end of thesecond arm being joined to the second appendage, and the other ends ofthe arms being joined together.

5. A rack for towels and articles of similar nature including a rigidarticle holding member having two appendages for attaching the rack to asupport, said member comprising two arms joined together and to theappendages, each of said arms being essentially sharply curvedhorizontally so that when an article is draped thereover a portion ofthe article will be crowded into folds and pressed against the innercurved side of an arm while free from the support and the article willthus be restrained from slipping down from the arm.

6. A rack for towels and articles of similar nature including a rigidarticle holding member which extends generally horizontally and anappendage at each end thereof for attaching the rack to a support, saidmember comprising an arm essentially sharply curved horizontally so thatwhen an article is draped over the arm a portion of the article will becrowded into folds and pressed against the inner curved side of the armwhile free from the support and the article will thus be restrained fromslipping down from the arm.

EDWARD C. GODFREY.

